Tag: contemporary romance

header with brand information and book pages
Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Kandi Steiner’s Watch Your Mouth, book 2 of the Kings of The Ice series ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: A-/B+

Tropes: best friend’s little sister; teammate’s little sister; brother’s best friend; professional hockey romance; forbidden relationship; road trip romance

“And I knew even if we were about to set fire to the world we lived in now, I would gladly live in the ashes if it meant I got to be with him. We surrendered everything. We laid our old lives to rest, knowing there would be hardship and pain ahead of us. We jumped headfirst into the risk, hand in hand, willing to forsake it all in the name of each other. There was no walking away this time. There was no end to this summer.”

Among her words, Kandi Steiner wins your heart. She beguiles you with the type of romance that feels ageless, and her newest offering, Watch Your Mouth, is one of the many romances that have found a permanent space in my heart. Jaxson Brittain and Grace Tanev are everything you love about romance: attraction for days and a need for each other that transcends time and space. Each moment of this story was emotionally palpable. One minute, you find yourself laughing at Grace’s attempts (and successes) to add light to Jaxson’s safe, darkened world. The next minute, your panties are damp, and your glasses are fogging from their eroticism. Each step of the book pulls you deeper into their adventures, and Steiner doesn’t miss a step with the only exception being the forbidden trope. 

I try to avoid critiquing a book on its tropes because there are definite characteristics of tropes that seem required to the genre. However, I want to speak to Steiner’s handling of Jaxson and Grace’s coupling. I get it. Really, I get it: teammate code, bro code, girl code…it’s all wrapped up in integrity and trust. But I really, really want to read stories where the younger sister or best friend can feel drawn to each other, and it doesn’t end up being forbidden. Jaxson and Grace have bigger issues to handle without having to handle the need for her brother’s approval: his need to set boundaries with an abusive father and her need to accept her choices for the future as well as help her family recognize her value as more than her brother’s younger sister. I usually inhale Steiner’s stories, but I found myself taking breaks from this story because I grew tired of Jaxson and Grace’s internal struggles about a future together, Once they recognized their depth of feelings for the other, the story took off for me. I understand that a story has a requirement for tension. Steiner prides herself in the crafting of angst in her stories, but I think angst could have been wrought in other ways that upended the staid challenge of an older brother’s or teammate’s approval. In 2023, I think we can move beyond that.

All of that said, I still love Watch Your Mouth. I love how Jaxson and Grace complete each other; I love how Grace challenges Jaxson’s boundaries so he can rewrite his own; I love how Jaxson loves Grace from the depths of himself; I love the found family of the Ospreys and the promise of future stories for Daddy P and Coach McCabe. And I love the spice and drama of Jaxson and Grace’s story. Once they found their power in each other, Watch Your Mouth was like a slap shot to the net, and it managed to be another huge score in Kandi Steiner’s Kings of the Ice series.

In love and romance,


Professor A

header with brand information and book pages
new release

✍🏻 The next Smartypants Romance story is LIVE. Check out Heidi Hutchinson’s All Mixed Up. ✍🏻

professorromance

All Mixed Up, an all-new swoony second chance romance from Heidi Hutchinson, is LIVE in Kindle Unlimited!

Nikki has a lot going on at the moment.

She’s the best sound engineer and mixer at XY Records, she’s working on a super-secret project with a pop megastar, and holding the busier-than-usual studio together.

The last thing she wants or needs is her ex-fiancé to start working in the studio over the summer. She’s over it—him. Obviously. Being ghosted has that effect. But working near someone she used to love has made her life that much more complicated.

Andre has it all figured out. Two and half years ago he had no idea what he was doing when he walked away from the love of his life. But time has given him perspective, and he’s grown up. Which is why the paleontology professor is working part-time at his ex’s recording studio. Because he wants to make amends. And maybe win her back.

Will Nikki give him the chance he thinks he’s ready for? Or will it be her turn to walk away from him?

‘All Mixed Up’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #8 in the Common Threads series, Seduction in the City World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Grab your copy TODAY!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3Kxv4nS

Amazon UK: https://bit.ly/447cMRc

Amazon CA: https://bit.ly/45snrax

Amazon AU: https://bit.ly/47mslrn

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3OZ72EY

Audiobook: https://bit.ly/3ELRGh1

About Heidi Hutchinson

Heidi Hutchinson creates funny, clever, slow burn romance for readers looking for a guaranteed happily ever after.

She hopes the stories she writes inspire her readers to take their hearts on one more adventure.

She lives in the Black Hills with her alarmingly handsome husband, their fearless child, and a rather large and spoiled dog. 

She is fueled by her unwavering and perfectly normal devotion to Dave Grohl and coffee. 

And a whole lotta love. 

Find Heidi online

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heidirhutchinson

Website: https://www.heidih.net/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heidi_hutchinson/

Connect with Smartypants Romance

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2kvDnb4

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2lzyduO

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2lGdIMQ

Instagram: http://bit.ly/2kwKsYK

Website: https://smartypantsromance.com/ 

Newsletter: https://smartypantsromance.com/newsletter/

header with brand information and book pages
Cover Reveal

✍🏻 Tijan grabbed my attention with Pine River in her newsletter. Now, the entire story is coming in October. Preorder your copy of it NOW! ✍🏻

professorromance

Tijan has revealed the cover for Pine River!

Releasing: October 24, 2023

Photographer: Wander Aguiar

​​Pine River was supposed to be a new start for me.

And it was, especially attending school with my three overprotective cousins, who were the triplets at the top of the social hierarchy.
Except they weren’t alone there, and the first day when I came to school, I saw him.

Scout Raiden.
Tall. Lean. Tattooed. Mesmerizing.
He was a golden god with dark and piercing eyes—looking like he wanted to eat me up.

The feeling was mutual, and that was a problem.
It was lust-want-must have-loathing-hate all at once. I was affected.
And I couldn’t have that. No way.
Not after what I’d just left in Cedra Valley.

I didn’t care how much money his uncle had.
I didn’t care that it seemed every girl wanted him.
I didn’t care about his reputation as an up-and-coming fighter.
Or the promise of how those hands would make me feel.

What I did care about was staying as far away from Scout as possible.
Because the promise of his presence, the heat that was going to turn the light back on in my world wasn’t a promise at all.
It was a threat.

I wasn’t going to survive Scout Raiden.

Pre-order your copy today!

Apple Books: https://bit.ly/45U9ItF

Nook: https://bit.ly/3sX5m6o

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3PDBWTI

Amazon: Coming to Kindle October 24th, and Kindle Unlimited later that day!

Audible: Coming Soon!

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3QXjMNT

Meet Tijan

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of sass on the side. Tijan began writing after college and once she started, she was hooked. She’s written multi-bestsellers including the Fallen Crest series, Ryan’s Bed, Enemies and others.
​She is currently writing many new books and series with an English Cocker she adores.

Connect with Tijan

Website: http://www.tijansbooks.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4851199.Tijan

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tijan/e/B00DJG52QE

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tijansbooks/

Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/tijansreadergroup

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tijansbooks/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tijansbooks

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@tijan_author

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tijan

header with brand information and book pages
new release

✍🏻 Lexi Blake’s next-gen of spies is HERE! Love The Way You Spy is LIVE. Dare and Tasha burn up the pages of this book. Grab it now! ✍🏻

professorromance

Love the Way You Spy by Lexi Blake is now live! 

Tasha Taggart isn’t a spy. That’s her sisters’ job. Tasha’s support role is all about keeping them alive, playing referee when they fight amongst themselves, and soothing the toughest boss in the world. Working for the CIA isn’t as glamorous as she imagined, and she’s more than a little lonely. So when she meets a charming man in a bar the night before they start their latest op, she decides to give in to temptation. The night was perfect until she discovers she’s just slept with the target of their new investigation. Her sisters will never let her hear the end of this. Even worse, she has to explain the situation to her overprotective father, who also happens to be their boss.

Dare Nash knew exactly how his week in Sydney was going to go—attending boring conferences to represent his family’s business interests and eating hotel food alone. Until he falls under the spell of a stunning and mysterious American woman. Something in Tasha’s eyes raises his body temperature every time she looks at him. She’s captivating, and he’s committed to spending every minute he can with her on this trip, even if her two friends seem awfully intense. He doesn’t trust easily, but it’s not long before he can imagine spending the rest of his life with her.

When Dare discovers Tash isn’t who she seems, the dream turns into a nightmare. She isn’t the only one who deceived him, and now he’s in the crosshairs of adversaries way out of his league. He can’t trust her, but it might take Tasha and her family to save his life and uncover the truth.

  Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3ORIEFB

Apple Books: https://bit.ly/3qorG7O

Nook: https://bit.ly/3MIJCl0

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3qorWDO

Google Play: https://bit.ly/3WK7ZmT

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3OP1zkC

Meet Lexi


New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband and three kids. Since starting her publishing journey in 2010, she’s sold over three million copies of her books. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings.

Connect with Lexi

Website: www.lexiblake.net

 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5124235.Lexi_Blake

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lexi-Blake/author/B005JVSDJ0

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlexiblake/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/526080691345626

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorlexiblake/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorlexiblake

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lexiblakeauthor

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lexi-blake

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lexiblakeauthor/

Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORVsrIAcbqMFxp0cHi51nw

header with brand information and book pages
new release

✍🏻 It’s been a little over a week since I finished Kristen Ashley’s Fighting the Pull, book 5 of her River Rain series, and I’m still not over it. This is my favorite story of this beloved series, and it’s a top read for 2023. ✍🏻

professorromance
He’s married to his mission.
She’s married to her career.
Will Hale and Elsa allow their hearts to surrender and let love in?

Fighting the Pull, the heartrending, emotional fifth standalone book in the River Rain Series from New York Times bestselling author Kristen Ashley is available now!

Hale Wheeler inherited billions from his father. He’s decided to take those resources and change the world for the better. He’s married to his mission, so he doesn’t have time for love.

There’s more lurking behind this decision. He hasn’t faced the tragic loss of his father, or the bitterness of his parents’ divorce. He doesn’t intend to follow in his father’s footsteps, breaking a woman’s heart in a way it will never mend. So he vows he’ll never marry.

But Hale is intrigued when he meets Elsa Cohen, the ambitious celebrity news journalist who has been reporting on his famous family. He warns her off, but she makes him a deal. She’ll pull back in exchange for an exclusive interview.

Elsa Cohen is married to her career, but she wants love, marriage, children. She also wants the impossibly handsome, fiercely loyal, tenderhearted Hale Wheeler.

They go head-to-head, both denying why there are fireworks every time they meet. But once they understand their undeniable attraction, Elsa can’t help but fall for the dynamic do-gooder.

As for Hale, he knows he needs to fight the pull of the beautiful, bold, loving Elsa Cohen, because breaking her would crush him.

Grab your copy today!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ZwfRsU
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/3omlWKU
Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/fightingthepull
Nook: https://bit.ly/3fJyKXy
B&N Paperback: https://bit.ly/3Owj0Gg
Google Play: https://bit.ly/3TgdwOu
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3TcKoYI
Apple Books: http://bit.ly/3ZzBbxa

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3Zqew6D

Keep reading for a look inside Fighting the Pull!

The thing on my mind that I wasn’t admitting was taking more headspace than it should was the fact that Hale had texted the day before.
Again.
Why he wasn’t letting himself off the hook about this interview he never wanted in the first place, I did not know. And it wasn’t going to be me who let him off the hook. Oh no. Not officially.
But I wasn’t returning his texts, so unofficially, the guy should take a hint.
We’d made a deal almost a year before. The deal was, I’d kinda, sorta lay off his family, he’d give me an interview.
I couldn’t totally lay off his family. They were the most celebrated celebrities in the world. Even the ones who hadn’t sought that out, like Chloe Pierce and Judge Oakley.
But there were a great many different kinds of celebrity news, and it didn’t seem like Hale Wheeler had cottoned on to the fact I wasn’t a mudslinger.
Sure, I also wasn’t an objective journalist. But I wasn’t TMZ either.
Nugget of news: you could share gossip for a living and still be classy. I was proof of that (or I thought I was).
I had my key ready to put into the four locks on the door to the building where my studio was in Brooklyn, and with practiced ease, I was out of the New York autumn morning cold in no time.
I locked the door behind me and headed to the space in the sectioned off warehouse that I rented for my studio.
I had to unlock that door too (only three locks this time), and once inside, I practically ran into Chuck, my cameraman, who was for some reason right there and crowding me.
My space was small, but this was weird.
I looked at his face, and…great.
We’d probably been burgled.
It wasn’t like I had a ton of expensive equipment, but what I had was hard won. I had offers coming in, and they were healthier than I’d allowed myself to dream, but I hadn’t signed on any dotted line. So, for the foreseeable future, ongoing operating costs, and any expansion, was on me.
I didn’t have time to deal with police reports and insurance companies telling me how little they could actually replace seeing as some small line in their contract exempted them from doing what I paid them to do. Nor did I need to be shelling out to replace stuff.
“What’s up?” I warily asked Chuck.
“Hale Wheeler is here,” he whispered.
Oh no.
That was worse than being burgled.
My gaze flew beyond Chuck to my set which was a one-step dais on which sat a mint green velvet swivel chair with a glass-topped gold side table beside it. These were in front of a greenscreen backdrop we could make anything we wanted it to be. Though usually it was subtle pastel green and peach swirls against a soft white with the words “Elsa’s Exchange” repeated throughout.
And damn it all to hell, there he was.
Tall, ridiculously handsome, athletically built Hale Wheeler, the richest man in the world.

For More Information about Kristen Ashley, visit her website:
https://www.kristenashley.net/

For More Information about Blue Box Press, visit:
Website: https://theblueboxpress.com/
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3ONzTtZ
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rTZdo3
TikTok: https://bit.ly/3G98oYh

header with brand information and book pages
Cover Reveal

✍🏻 Who’s ready for the next story in Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s The Law of Opposites Attract series? Check out the cover for The Rules of Dating My One-Night Stand, coming November 12th. ✍🏻

professorromance
Title: The Rules of Dating My One-Night Stand
Authors: Penelope Ward & Vi Keeland
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Cover Design: Sommer Stein, Perfect Pear Creative
Photographer: Marq Mendez
Model: Karl Kugelmann
Release Date: November 12, 2023
BLURB
Rule number one for having a one-night stand: Don’t fall for the girl.

After a lengthy dating slump, I finally met someone who sparked my interest.
Well, first the sparks flew when we argued. Later in the evening those sparks ignited into something more.
I was drawn to Devyn, in a way I hadn’t felt in a really long time.
Needless to say, I was disappointed when she abruptly left after our amazing night together.
I couldn’t stop thinking about her. But she hadn’t even given me her number.
In a city with eight-million people, I figured I’d never see Devyn again.
So imagine my surprise when I knocked on the door of an apartment in the building I lived in, and none other than my one-night stand stood on the other side.
If I thought Devyn didn’t want anything to do with me before, that was nothing compared to how she felt after finding out I was the landlord and she was about to be evicted…
And that was just the first surprise that would rock my world when it came to the mystery woman in apartment 410.
PRE-ORDER LINKS
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Sign up for Vi & Penelope’s mailing list now and be the first one notified when it goes live!
 
PENELOPE WARD
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance. 
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.
With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over thirty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
FACEBOOK
FACEBOOK GROUP
WEBSITE
INSTAGRAM
TIKTOK
TWITTER
GOODREADS
VI KEELAND
Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated in twenty-seven languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in the US, Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria and Hungary. Three of her short stories have been turned into films by Passionflix, and two of her books are currently optioned for movies. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.
OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE & VI
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited
ALSO AVAILABLE IN PRINT & AUDIO
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited
ALSO AVAILABLE IN PRINT & AUDIO
OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
GOOGLE PLAY / PAPERBACK
AUDIOBOOK
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
OTHER BOOKS BY VI
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
GOOGLE PLAY / PAPERBACK
AUDIOBOOK
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
GOOGLE PLAY / PAPERBACK
AUDIOBOOK
Find more books
header with brand information and book pages
Cover Reveal

✍🏻 There are only a few books in 2023 that are highly anticipated. Jewel E. Ann’s Because of Her is one of those stories. Check out its GORGEOUS cover! ✍🏻

professorromance

Jewel E. Ann has revealed the gorgeous cover for Because of Her!

Releasing: November 2, 2023

Cover Design: Emily Wittig Designs

“If sin weren’t pretty, it wouldn’t be so tempting.”

I was an accomplished music professor.

Happily single. 

Perfectly content.

Now, I’m unemployed.

Pining for a dark, brooding guy named Jack who lives in a garage with a piano.

And I’m plotting to seduce a married man because his daughter is responsible for my nephew committing suicide.

I don’t know why teenage girls are so mean. 

I don’t know why rich men cheat on their wives. 

And I don’t know why Jack has serial killer vibes, even though he leaves me speechless every time he speaks.

All I know for sure is that I feel safe in a stranger’s arms and understood by someone I don’t understand.

“You should be a little scared of everyone because humans are unpredictable.” 

How far will I go for revenge? More than that …

How far will he go to save me? 


*This book contains material involving sexual assault and suicide. Reader discretion is advised.

Pre-order your copy today!

https://books2read.com/u/m2EEER

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3OKqeoK

Meet Jewel E. Ann

Jewel is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author with a quirky sense of humor. When she’s not saving the planet one tree at a time, you can find her role modeling questionable behavior to her three boys, binge-watching Netflix with her husband, and writing mind-bending romance. 

Connect with Jewel

Website: https://www.jeweleann.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7505427.Jewel_E_Ann

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jewel-E-Ann/e/B00IJYHDIG/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjeweleann

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/485996228236493

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorjeweleann/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JewelE_Ann

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jewel-e-ann

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jeweleannauthor/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeweleannauthor

header with brand information and book pages
Cover Reveal

✍🏻 Mr. Tall, Dark, and Yummy is coming in Ilsa Madden-Mills’s next story, My Darling Bride. Check out this cover, and preorder your copy of it NOW. You won’t want to miss this one. ✍🏻

professorromance

Ilsa Madden-Mills has revealed the cover for My Darling Bride!

Releasing December 5, 2023

In a sizzling romance that sparkles with wit and depth, two wounded souls meet by chance in the desert and agree to get married, and their lives will never be the same.

On a normal day, Emmaline Darling isn’t a car thief. She’s just a simple girl who runs a bookstore and adores cats. But when she’s stranded in the desert and needs to get away from her dangerous ex-boyfriend, she picks her only option: swiping the keys to a famous football player’s Lamborghini and speeding away.

Football star Graham Harlan is in chaos. First he took a hit on the field that left him with a near-death experience, and now he’s promised his brother he’ll get married to secure the family inheritance. Trouble is he isn’t even seeing anyone.

Then a mystery woman steals his car. With his usual stubbornness, he tracks her all the way to Manhattan and gives her an ultimatum: marry me or I’ll press charges.

Her choice is obvious, only neither of them expect the sparks that ignite between them.

As the end of their arrangement looms, will Graham take a chance on love or let his darling walk away forever?

Cover Designer: Letitia Hasser, RBA Designs 

Preorder today on Amazon!

https://mybook.to/mdb

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3R4d1tw

Meet Ilsa Madden-Mills


#1 Amazon Charts, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today best-selling author Ilsa Madden-Mills pens angsty new adult and contemporary romances.

A former high school English teacher and librarian, she adores all things Pride and Prejudice, and of course, Mr. Darcy is her ultimate hero.

She’s addicted to frothy coffee beverages, cheesy magnets, and any book featuring unicorns and sword-wielding females. Feel free to stalk her online.

Connect with Ilsa

Website | www.ilsamaddenmills.com

Goodreads | http://bit.ly/2EESfM9

Amazon | http://amzn.to/2nY2pxT

Facebook | www.facebook.com/authorilsamaddenmills

Facebook Group | https://bit.ly/44pq5Nc

Instagram | www.instagram.com/ilsamaddenmills

TikTok | www.tiktok.com/@ilsamaddenmills

Bookbub | http://bit.ly/2GaR6cn

Newsletter | www.ilsamaddenmills.com/contact

Text Updates | Text ROMANCE to (877) 207-0713

header with brand information and book pages
new release

✍🏻 Love an enemies to lovers, forced proximity, forbidden romance? Then, run and GRAB Penelope Ward’s I Could Never and try not to fall hard for Josh and Carly. ✍🏻

professorromance
Title: I Could Never
Author: Penelope Ward
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Forbidden Romance/Enemies to Lovers
Release Date: August 21, 2023
BLURB

From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward comes a new forbidden, enemies-to-lovers story…

It all started with an unexpected phone call.
Two years after my fiancé passed away in an accident, his father died suddenly, leaving Brad’s adult, special-needs brother with no one to care for him.
The next thing I knew, I was on a cross-country drive to New Hampshire where I’d be moving in to look after Scottie until I could get him into a group home.
The last thing I ever expected?
I wouldn’t be taking care of him alone.
Josh Mathers, my fiance’s best friend—who also happened to be my sworn enemy—insisted he was the better person for the job. He told me to go back to California, and I told him where he could stick that demand.
Our disdain for each other wasn’t anything new. It dated back to a text I’d accidentally read years ago.
We hated each other. But we both loved Scottie, so neither of us budged.
Now we were living together in a tiny house—with one available bedroom. Thank goodness it was only temporary.
Over time, I realized the broody jerk I thought I knew was different than I’d imagined.
I found myself slowly growing attached to someone I once considered the enemy…and growing attracted to him.
Sure, both of us were guilt-ridden over Brad. We were also two grown people with pent-up frustration toward one another—stuck in a cabin in the woods.
But this was Josh.

I could never.
PURCHASE LINKS
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AUTHOR BIO
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling
author of contemporary romance.
 
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a
television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son,
and beautiful daughter with autism.
 
With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen
languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
AUTHOR LINKS
OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE WARD
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
SEE MORE BOOKS HERE
header with brand information and book pages
Excerpt/Sneak Peek

✍🏻 Penelope Ward’s I Could Never releases on Monday. Want a little nibble of this forced proximity, forbidden romance? ✍🏻

professorromance
Title: I Could Never
Author: Penelope Ward
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Forbidden Romance/Enemies to Lovers
Release Date: August 21, 2023
BLURB
From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward comes a new forbidden, enemies-to-lovers story…
It all started with an unexpected phone call.
Two years after my fiancé passed away in an accident, his father died suddenly, leaving Brad’s adult, special-needs brother with no one to care for him.
The next thing I knew, I was on a cross-country drive to New Hampshire where I’d be moving in to look after Scottie until I could get him into a group home.
The last thing I ever expected?
I wouldn’t be taking care of him alone.
Josh Mathers, my fiance’s best friend—who also happened to be my sworn enemy—insisted he was the better person for the job. He told me to go back to California, and I told him where he could stick that demand.
Our disdain for each other wasn’t anything new. It dated back to a text I’d accidentally read years ago.
We hated each other. But we both loved Scottie, so neither of us budged.
Now we were living together in a tiny house—with one available bedroom. Thank goodness it was only temporary.
Over time, I realized the broody jerk I thought I knew was different than I’d imagined.
I found myself slowly growing attached to someone I once considered the enemy…and growing attracted to him.
Sure, both of us were guilt-ridden over Brad. We were also two grown people with pent-up frustration toward one another—stuck in a cabin in the woods.
But this was Josh.

I could never.
PRE-ORDER LINKS
**No Amazon e-book preorder. 
Will go live on/around release day
EXCERPT
Copyright © 2023 by Penelope Ward
Josh sat at the table, casually having coffee as I walked into the house after my drive home from the salon. The smell of cigarettes emanated from him. He hadn’t smelled like that since the first day he arrived.
“Where’s Scottie?” I asked.
“In his room,” he answered without making eye contact.
I stated the obvious. “You smell like smoke.”
“Must be the firewood.” He brought his mug to his mouth.
“Bullsh*t. The pellet stove doesn’t emit any fumes.”
“Yeah. I caved and had one. Big deal.” He pointed toward the door. “I did it outside, though, while keeping an eye on Scottie through the window.”
“You’d been doing so well. What happened?”
He still wasn’t looking at me, and instead stared straight ahead. “Just human, I guess.”
Then something in front of him on the table caught my attention: pieces of ripped pages piled atop…my journal.
A rush of adrenaline shot through me. “Why do you have that?”
“It’s apparently your diary.”
“I’m quite aware of that.” My heart began to pound. “You were snooping in my room?”
He shot daggers at me. “Think, Carly. Of the two guys in this house, who is the one more likely to have been ransacking your room?”
“You were supposed to be watching him while I was at the salon,” I yelled.
“God forbid I take a piss in peace. Is it not bad enough that I’m showering with him now? Getting my balls tugged?”
I wanted to laugh, but this moment was far from funny.
“Scottie ripped those pages out?”
“The notebook is bright orange, like his iPad cover. Probably caught his attention. The drawer next to your bed was open, so he must have gone in there. I assume that’s where you kept it. Admittedly, I’d been letting him hang out in your room, but you sometimes do, too. I went to check on him, make sure he wasn’t doing anything bad, and found those pages strewn about.” A vein popped in his neck.
Josh was angry. Why? I should’ve been the angry one.
“Did you read it?”
“I only happened to see what was on the pages he ripped. I didn’t read anything else once I figured out what the hell it was.”
This is bad. Starting to sweat, I asked, “But how much did you see?”
He stood up from his seat and slowly approached me. With each step he took toward me, I took one back. When we could go no farther, he placed his arms on either side of me, leaning his hands against the wall. And I forgot how to breathe.
Fear. Arousal. Embarrassment. You name it, I was feeling it right now. Every emotion hit me at once.
His breath grazed my face. “How much did I actually see?” He paused. “Enough to know you think I’m an evil pig.”
Ugh. No. Now his anger made sense.
When he backed away, I walked over to the ripped pages on the table and sifted through them.
“It’s the last one, for reference,” he noted.
I read what I’d written the other night.
AUTHOR BIO
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling
author of contemporary romance.
 
She grew up
in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a
television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son,
and beautiful daughter with autism.
 
With over two
million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author
of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen
languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
AUTHOR LINKS
OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE WARD
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
SEE MORE BOOKS HERE